Stapling machine



March-16, 1937. M. VOGEL STAPLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1935 IN V EN TOR. $4M VEJEEL A TTORNEY.

M. VOGEL STAPLING- MACHINE March 16, 1937.

Filed Aug'. 5, '1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BEL.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE ,STAPLING MIAGHIIIE Max Vogel, Frankfcrt-on-the-Maln, Germany Application August 5, 1935, Serial so. 34,800

In Germany March 2, 1935 12 Claims.

This invention relates to a stapling machine and has for an object to provide a stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front side, and to this end the driver housing is provided with a removable front plate. stapling machines of known types-are provided for the most part with a safety device located in the front of the staple magazine, the function of which is to prevent simultaneous feeding of -sevl.0 eral staples into the driver housing, and this safety device is either located in-the channel where the staples are fed or in the front plate of the driver head. The complicated construc-. tion of these machines, due to this safety device,

is such that the machines are subject to clogging, and in any case there is no assurance with such machines that they will at all times function properly.

The present invention does away entirely with the use of a safety device, such as employed in theseknown machines, the machine, according to the invention, being so designed that any clogging caused by skipping of staples, or riding of staples one on another, or jamming, can be easily remedied by any one without any special knowledge'of skill. The principal feature of the invention is that the front plate of the driver head is hinged to the front end of the staple rail and. can be swung relatively to the staple rail in such a way that the staple magazine is completely freed, the staple rail at the same time being hinged at its rearward end so that it may be swung away from the driver head.

Also the driver head, 'as well as other movable parts of-the machine, are mounted in such a way. in the machine that they may be easily removed. For instance, the spring actuated staple pusher sliding on the rail is connected with a spring disposed over the rail in the open position of the latter, this spring being attached at one end to the staple feeder and at the other end with thejdriver head. The position of the spring has, besides the advantage of facilitating the loading of the stapling machine from the front, the added advantage that, as distinguished from springs placed outside, that the spring cannot bind or be distorted by hand force. Because the staple feeder and its spring are completely enclosed in the inner part of the housing there is provided an automatic locking means for retaining the feeder in retracted position .while the machine'is being loaded, and which may be readily operated from the under side of the rail to release the spring. With the above and oth r objects in view emin longitudinal section.

bodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, and these embodiments will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings in which two forms of the in,- vention are shown:--- Y Fig. 1 is a side view of the first form.

Fig. 2 is afront view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side view partially in section, with 10 the base. removed, and showing the folded down\ rail and front plate. a

Fig. 4is a detail front view of the driver head. with driver.

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. 15

Fig. 6 is a detail side view of the rail, partially Fig. '7 is a cross-section along the line l-'l of Fig. 6. I

Fig. 8 is a cross-section along the line 8-4 of 20 Fig. .6.

Fig. 9-is a side elevation of the second form of the invention.

' Fig. 10 is a side elevation with the base removed, and the rail and front plate folded down. 25

Fig. 11 is a front view of the driver .end.

Fig. 12 is a perspective detail view of the front late. 1

p Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 8 thereof, the stapling ma- 3() chine, according to the exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention shown therein,

comprises a main housing portion In, of inverted U-shape in cross section, the forward edges of the sides of the housing being vertical, the 35 base edges of the sides being horizontal, and the transverse top portion being inclined downwardly from front to rear. The lower portions of the sides are outwardly offset by means of outwardly bentshoulders H-I| arranged in spaced par- 4 allel relation to the lower edges of the sides, these shoulders being adapted to provide upper guide surfaces for the staple strip inserted in the machine. and as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the forward end of the housing III the sta- 45 ple driver l2 and driver head I3 secured thereto by a rivet l4 are arranged for vertical movement to drive the staples, the upper transverse portion of the housing It .being bent downwardly at I 15 to provide a bridge portion which acts as .a 5o guide for the rearward surface of the driver head, the sides of the driver head being guided by the sides of the housing I, and the'front being guided by the hingedcover member hereinafter more fully referred to. lithe driver I! has ,55

7 10 the lower edge of the bridge portion I5, the driver head being yieldably pressed to its upper position by means of one leg I3 of a hair-pin spring, the loop portion l3 of which is looped about a transverse pin 23 mounted in the housing, the rearward end portion 2f of the spring bearing upon the under side of the transverse portion of the housing. The other leg 22 of the spring extends through a slot 22' in the upper transverse portion of the housing l3 and bears upon the transverse upper portion of a cap member 23, of inverted U- shape in cross-section and corresponding generally to the shape of the upper portion of the housing, this cap member being pivotally mounted upon the pin 23 and adapted to be normally pressed by the spring portion 22 in clockwise direction about the pivot 23. At the forward end of the cap member 23 there is provided at each side an outwardly projecting lug 24 for the purpose of locking the hinged cover member in position, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Within the lower portion of the housing there is mounted the staple strip carrying rail 25, this rail being pivotally connected adjacent the rearward end of the housing by means of a cross pin' 25. The rail projects rearwardly with respect to the housing and is hingedly mounted between a pair of side ears 2'|2'| provided upon the base 23. The hinged connection consists of a manually rotatable pin 23 extending between the ears 4 21 and engaging a segmental notch 33 formed in the underside of the rail, the pin bein provided with flats 3 |3| at its opposed sides, so that upon partial rotation of the pin it may be disengaged from the notch 33 to permit. the upper portion of the staple machine to be removed from the base when desired. 7

At the forward end of the rail 25 there is hingedly mounted, by means of a cross-pin 32, a cover member 33, this member being of U-shape in cross-section, open at the bottom and at the rear, and having its upper end 34 provided with a cut-out 35, which in the normal engaged relation of the cover member embraces the driver head l3. The pin 32 extends through bosses 36 formed upon the rail 25 at its forward. end, and which bosses constitute forward stops for the slidable staple pusher, as will presentlymore fully appear. The side walls of the cover member 33 are spaced outwardly from thebosses 36, and in the normal position of the cover member, as shown in Fig. 1, the pin 32 is seated in notches 31 formed in the lower edges of the side portions of the housing I 0. The side walls of the cover member 33 are pro- -vided at their rearward edges and near their upper ends with bayonet cut-outs 33 which in the closed position of the cover member are engaged by the locking lugs 24 of the cap member 23, as shown in Fig. 1, the spring leg 22 normally pressing the cap member in clockwise direction and therefore maintaining the locked position of the cover member. In order to release the cover member it is only necessary to depress the cap member 23 at its forward end'wher'eupon the lugs 24 are moved downwardly in the bayonet cut-outs and the cover member 33 is thus releas d a d may be swung forwardly about the pivot pin 32, the rail 25 in turn being swung downwardly about the pivot pin 23, thus exposing the rail at its forward end so that the staple strip 35 may be engaged therewith.

Upon the staple carrying rail 25 there is slidably mounted a staple pusher 43 of tubular rectangularcross-section, as clearly shown in Fig. 8, this pusher being provided at its upper side adjacent its rearward end with a lug 4| to which one end of a spring 42 is connected, the other end of this spring being connected to a pin 43 disposed adjacent the channel guide for the driver. This spring exerts forward pressure on the pusher and therefore causes the latter to feed the staples forwardly upon the rail. The pusher is provided at the sides and bottom of its forward end with a cut-out 44 which embraces the bosses 33 in the forwardly moved position of the pusher, and it is also provided at its rearward end with a similar cut-out 45 which embraces the pivot pin 26 in the rearwardly moved position.

Before disconnecting the cover member 33 and swinging it together with the rail 25 downwardly, the staple pusher 43 is preferably lockedin a rearwardly moved position on the rail, and for this purpose the rail is provided in its under side near its rearward end with a groove 45 in which there is secured by a rivet 41 a leaf spring 43, having a nose portion 43, rounded at its forward side and straight at its rearward side, and adapted to interlockingly engage a slot 53 in the under side of the staple pusher. It will be seen that by sliding the pusher rearwardly the nose portion 43 will automatically enter the slot 53 and retain the pusher in its rearwardly moved position. In this rearwardly moved retaining position of the pusher the spring 42 exerts pressure on the rail to swing it out of the housing to open position upon unlocking of the cover member 33.

-After engaging the staple strip upon the guide rail the machine is closed by first swinging the guide rail upwardly and then swinging the cover member 33 to its closed position, the engagement of the lugs 24 with the bayonet cut-outs 33 being automatically accomplished as the-cover member -is. pressed closed. The slidable staple pusher is then released by pressing upwardly upon the end of the leaf spring 43 so as to disengage the nose -43 from the slot 53, whereupon the spring 42 pulls the pusher forwardly to feed the staple.

For the purpose of automatically releasing the staple feeder, as the upper portion of the stapling machine .is pressed downwardly, a depressible pin 5| is mounted in a hole 52 in the base 28, this pin being provided at its'lower end with a head 53 engaged by a leaf spring 54 secured to the underside of the base. It will be seen from Fig. l

that as the upper portion of the stapling machine is depressed the end of the spring 43 engages the pin 5| and therefore releases the staple feederdash lines. The upper anvil portion of this memher is provided with an anvil groove 56 designed for the purpose of turning the staple legs inwardly, and below this upper portion there is provided a second anvil member 51 having anvil grooves 58 designed to turn the staple legs outwardly. In the position shown in full lines the grooves 56 will function, and when it is desired toturn the staple legs outwardly the member 55 is moved forwardly to the position shown in dotand-dash lines, whereupon the anvil 51 is exposed and in position to' function.

A slidable gauge member 59 is mounted upon the base 28 for the purpose of gauging the depth of insertion of the material to be stapled.

When disengaging the cover member 33 for the purpose of loading the staples, and in the event that some staples remain in the machine, the channel form of thefcover member will act'as a receiver for these staples, so that they will not be thrown or shot out of the machine by the pressure of the pusher 40. This is of particular importance in the event that the cover member wardly to its locked position.

The arrangement of the movable parts of the stapling machine according. tomy invention is such that these parts are all protected within the housing, this being particularly true of the spring 02 as well as of the pusher 00. Excess pressure cannot be exerted upon the spring, such as is the case with pusher springs employed in machines in which the pusher may be pulled out at the rear. Also the, parts are such that they may be readily assembled. Upon disengagement of the cover member 33 the driver may be readily removed by simply pressing it downwardly a short distance to disengage the hook 01 from the bridge portion l5 whereupon it is free tobe removed.

' In Figs. 9 to 12, I have illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the cap'member I 22 employed in the first embodiment for locking the cover member is dispensed with and a modi- 40 fled form of locking means is provided. In this form the housing member H is of one-piece construction, and is provided at each side and at its upper forward corners with looking pins 60-60, and upon the cover member 33 there is provided a slide member 6| of U-shape in crosssection and slidably mounted by means of flanges 62-62 at each of its rearward edges, engaged about the rearward edges of the cover member, the slidable movement being limited by means of a pin 66 provided in the slide member engaging a slot 64 in the cover member. A spring member 65 is secured to the slide member, and is in the form of a fork having a pair of spring arms, these arms engaging beneath a pair of pins 66-66 secured to the inner walls of the cover member, this spring member normally urging the slide member downwardly.v The edges of the covermember 'are' provided-with rearwardly directed notches 61-61 adapted to be engaged by the pins 60-60 and the slide member is provided in each side with downwardly directed notches 68-66 adapted to be lockingly engaged with the pins 60-60 through downwardmovement of the slide member under the pressure of the spring 65.

Buttons 69 are formed upon the sides of the slide member to facilitate its being pushed upwardly by the fingers to release the notches 66-68 from the pins 60-60. It will be seen that by lifting the slide member-upwardly'the cover member 33 70 is released from the locking pins 60-60 and may be swung outwardly in a similar manner to the locking member of the first embodiment. The lower rearward corners of the sides of the slide memberare rounded, as at 10, so that as the cover memberis closed these rounded corners will 'act as cams to automatically lift the slide member and permit it to snap into look ing engagement with the locking pins 60.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodiments of my invention, but it will be obvious that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as"

defined in the appended claims. 7 v 7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing, a staple carrying rail in said housing hinged at its rear end thereto, a front cover plate for said housing hingedly connectedto said rail whereby said cover plate can be folded down toexpose the rail at its front end and as a continuous movement therewith said rail can be swung down to permit a staplestrip to be engaged therewith and releasable co-acting look- .ing means on said housing and cover plate adapted to normally secure said cover plate to said housing in closed position.

2. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of sidewalls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said housing hinged at its rear end thereto, and a front cover plate for said housing comprising a front wall and side walls adapted to enclose said housing at its front end and hingedly connected tosaid rail whereby said cover plate can be folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged, therewith.

3. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said housing hinged at its rear end thereto, a front cover plate for said housing comprising a front wall and side walls adapted to enclose said housing at its front end, a hinge pin engaging said side walls of said cover plate and hingedly connecting it 'to said rail whereby said cover plate can be" folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, said side walls of saidhousing adapted to engage between said cover plate and rail.

4. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having apair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said housing hinged at its rear endv thereto, a front cover plate for said housing comprising a front wall and side walls adapted to enclose said housing at its front end, a hinge pin engaging said side walls of said cover plate and hingedly connecting it to said rail whereby said cover plate can be folded down to ,expose the rail at its frontend'to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, said side walls of said housing adapted to engage between said cover plate and rail, the lower edgesof said side walls of said housing having notches therein adapted to be engaged by said hinge pin.

5. A staplingmachine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said housing hinged at its rear end thereto, whereby a staple strip pusher member slidably mounted on said rail, and a spring connected between said pusher member and said housing normally urging said pusher member forwardly and also exerting pressure on said rail to move it about its hinge connection out of said housing. a

6. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said housing, hinged at its rear end thereto, whereby said 10 rail can be swung down at its front end to permit' a staple strip to be engaged therewith, a staple strip pusher member slidably mounted on said rail, and a spring connected between said pusher member and said housing normally l urging said pusher member forwardly and also exerting pressure on said rail to move it about its hinge connection outof said housing, and releasable lock means acting between said rail and said pusher member adapted to retain it in 20 retracted position.

7. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said 25 housing, hinged at its rear end thereto, a front cover plate for said housing hingedly connected to said rail, whereby said cover plate can be folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, 30 a staple strip pusher member slidably mounted on said rail, and a spring connected between said pusher member and said housing normally urging said pusher member forwardly and also exerting pressure on said rail to move it about 35 its hinge connection out of said housing.

8. A stapling machine in which the staples can' be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front and bottom, a staple carrying rail in said 40 housing,'hinged at its rear end thereto, a front cover plate for said housing hingedly connected to said rail, whereby said cover plate can be folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, a staple 5 strip pusher member slidably mounted on said rail, and a spring connected between said pusher member and said housing normally urgingsaid pusher member forwardly and also exerting pressure on said rail to move it about its hinge con- 50 nection out of said housing. and means for releasably locking said cover plate in closed position. 4

9. A stapling machine, comprising a housing having a pair of side walls open at the front, a staple driver in the front end of said housing,

a staple carrying rail in said housing and a front cover plate for the front end of said housing hingedly connected to said rail whereby said front plate can be folded down to expose the driver to permit its removal from the housing.

10. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing, a staple carrying rail hinged at its rear end to said housing, a. front cover plate for said housing hingedly connected to said rail whereby said cover plate can be folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, and co-acting means on said housing and cover plate for releasably locking' said cover plate in closed position.

11. Astapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing, a staple carrying rail hinged at its rear end to said housing, a front cover plate for said closed. Y

12. A stapling machine in which the staples can be loaded from the front end, comprising a housing, a staple carrying rail hinged at its rear end to said housing, a front cover plate for said housing of channel form hingedly connected at its sides to said rail whereby said cover plate can be folded down to expose the rail at its front end to permit a staple strip to be engaged therewith, and releasable co-acting locking. means on said housing and cover plate adapted to normally secure said cover plate to said housing in closed position, said cover plate constituting a channel extension of said rail in its open position adapted to receive staples from the front end of said-rail. I

. MAX VOGEL. 

